The trumpets are once again sounding for educational reform! Every few years, ideas come up in education; ideas which are marketed as the new thing that will fix education, things that will—this time—really work. Our fascination for whatever is seen as new takes hold and, after a while, everyone is talking about this new thing. It might be a Common Core Curriculum, Phonics, or Whole Language. It may be Learning Styles, Multiple Intelligences, or Open-Area Teaching. It may be Cooperative Learning, the New Math, or Singaporean Math. It may be coding or personalized learning.

When Imogen Blomley ’17 grouped her finished pieces together for the Diploma Programme (DP) Art Exhibition, she was proud. She had a beautiful collection to choose from—paintings, ceramics, photographs, and illustrations—and it was clear she had pushed her boundaries and grown as an artist over the two-year program.

As part of the community, you’re bound to be asked the inevitable: what’s Meadowridge really like? It can be a hard question to answer. The truth is, everyone’s answer will be different. There is no one explanation of our school.

We’re a continuum school—students from Junior Kindergarten through to Grade 12 live and learn here—and we offer a bevy of clubs, sports’ teams, service opportunities, artistic pursuits, and so much more for students to take part in.

Every one of our students can choose their own adventure; and, while we can’t share all 563 of them, we can share 14. What’s Meadowridge really like? Let’s find out.

As our graduates took their spots on stage at convocation, Mr. Parker introduced them, making special note of the class’ shared diversity and talent: “This year’s cohort,” he began, “represents the cultures of the world, but they too are budding politicians, accomplished opera singers, artists, hip hop dancers, musicians, philanthropists, actors, models, scientists and cadets…”

It’s true, and what should be dually celebrated is that our graduates are not just dancers or just philanthropists: any one of our 34 graduates is an ever-evolving combination of character and traits. We have dancing, philanthropic scientists. We have marching, singing mathematicians.

Richard Laurie ’17 is no exception. Upon first glance, you might describe him as an artistic, academic athlete; however, like his peers, there’s much more to him than that. Already, Richard has plans to delve into astronomy, study psychology, and see where else his passions take him as he heads off to university in the fall.

After graduating from Simon Fraser University, Jayten Patel ’10 was faced with a tough decision. He had saved up a bit of money while earning his degree, and was now contemplating how to spend it. His decision was divided: buy a car or travel. He chose travel.

This one decision, paired with a series of fortunate—and one, not-so fortunate—events, brought Jayten to a small, one-building school in one of the poorest suburbs of Siem Reap, Cambodia. This one decision, and the events which brought him to it, would forever change his life.

As a young graduate, Ms. Carrie Mohoruk got the news every young graduate hopes for. Unfortunately, it was the news one hopes for… not to happen.

The government issued a hiring freeze, restricting any new teachers from entering the field and any with less than five years’ experience to be laid off. Of course, this development changed things for Ms. Mohoruk, whose focused shifted from crossing the stage at graduation to crossing the globe straight after. She never intended to work internationally, but Ms. Mohoruk is the first to confess she’s not one to back down from challenge; in fact, she embraces it. Challenge, you’ll soon learn, is what has guided her throughout life.

It’s not very often you find a nine-year-old with a subscription to the Vancouver Sun—even stranger, one who scours the pages, devouring all the news stories and global goings-on.

Charleen Lui ’17 has always been curious, back then as a nine-year-old newspaper devotee, and still today as a graduating student from the Meadowridge Diploma Programme. “I’m an avid researcher,” Charleen confesses. Charleen’s keen curiosity, paired with her tact for research, meant that no topic was beyond her reach. When she wanted to learn about something, she went ahead and did it. So when Charleen decided she wanted to learn more about her heritage, about where her parents came from, that’s just what she did.